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IE 255 

V23 
I Copy 1 



SPEECH 



or 



Ao""-. r> 



MR. VANDERPOEL, OF NEW YORK, 



IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, 



ON THE 



BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE SETTLEMENT 



-.1* 

n 



OF 



CERTAIN REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS 



/ 



CITY OF WASHINGTON: 
PRINTED BY FRANCIS PRESTON BLAIR; 

1834. 



REVOIiUTIO\ARY CL.AIiUS. 



SPEECH OF MR. VANDERPOEL 

OF NEW YORK. 



In the House of Representativfn, February "2^, 1834, 

on ihc bill "to piovide for the settlement of 

certain Revolutionary Claims " 

Mr. Speaker: I have examined the details, re- 
flected upon the principle, and have endeavored 
to ascertain what will be the certain consequences 
of the passage of the bill upon your table; nnd 
after bestowing upon it that attention which is 
alike due to the amount it would draw from your 
Treasury, and to those goorl and gallunt men for 
whom it purports to piw.de, I feel it an incum- 
bent duty most strenuously to oppose its passage. 
Let no one inftr, sir, froni the course I am about 
to take, that I am insensble to the claims of the 
gHlIanl and veteran officers of the revolution. No, 
sir: 1 would freely award to them not only the 
justice, but the bounty of my country: but in the 
discharge of the important duties that here de- 
volve upon us, we shoidd remember, that there 
is a point be3^ond which liberality degenerates in- 
to prodigality, and ceases to be a virtue. In the 
halls of legislation, sir, the generous impidses of 
our nature should always hive the checks and 
balances which sober judgment and reason im- 
pose. The purse of the nation is confided to our 
care, arid if, on the one iiand, a I'iggardly and par- 
simonious spirit is unworthy of the generous and 
hign-minded Peopie whom we have the honor to 
represent, so on the other, a system of waste and 
extravagance, resulting from even the kindest 
feelings of our nature, would indicate a betrayal 
of our high trust. Our constituents have given 
us the power to dispense justice to all who have 
just claims upon the countiy; but I cannot find, 
sir, in the power of attorney under which we 
act, an authority to vote away the treasure of the 
People in indiscriminate largesses and enormous 
bounties, or by any imprudent act of legislatiori to 
provoke upon the Treasury the vast frauds and 
peculafons which the passage of the bili upon 
your table would, in my estimation, most inevita- 
bly occasion. 

Should the bill upon your table become a law, 
said Mr. V., a million, or more probably two 
millions of dollars, would be drawn from your 
Treasury under its piovisions. This, to be sure, 
said Mr. V., should not prevent its passage, pro- 
vided the subjects of it have a just or equitable 
claim upon the nation; but it should, at all events. 



inculcate a spirit of caution, and provoke to it 
the strictest scrutiny of gentlemen; an I, above 
;ill, it should guard against that precipitancy in its 
passage through the House, with which it was 
here rushed through the Committee of the Whole. 
Its total escape ot criticism and comment in its 
passage through this first ordeal, is not at all sur- 
piising, when we consider how totally subordi- 
nate has been every other subject, in point of in- 
terest, to that great question, which has so unre- 
mittingly engaged the attention of the House 
during this session. The Bank, and the matters 
connected with the Bank, have constituted a 
mammoth interest, which seems to have swallow- 
ed up .all solicitude about other, though impor- 
tant concerns, and it would not be wonderful, if, 
amid all the crits of panic and distress which 
have been so unccMsingly rung through oin* ears, 
our accustomed vigilance in relation to other sub- 
jects, and other interests, had somewhat relaxed, 
it is only upon this principle, sir, that I can ac- 
count for the passage ot a bill through the commit- 
tee so important in amount, and as a general bill, 
so novel in principle as the one upon your table, 
without at all breaking that silence which seems 
to be so rare in this hall. It is not, however, too 
late to arrest it, if obnoxious to the objections 
which it shall now be my task to expose. 

In order to imderstand the provisions of the 
bill, it becomes necessary to advert to the origin 
ef the obligations which it recognises, and 
which it prop ises to discharge. It proceeds up- 
on the principle, that we owe the officers of the 
revolution who are embraced in its provisions, & 
debt, which at this late day we are under a mo- 
ral obligati m to pay, augmented too by the inte- 
rest of half a century. The research and reflec- 
tion which I have bestowed upon the subject have 
satisfied my mind, sir, that the debts proposed to 
be cancelled are of too equivocal a character, at 
this late day, to justify our exposure to the enor- 
mous frauds, imp.)sitions, and speculations, to 
which the bili upon your table will most assured- 
ly lead. 

The foundation of the claims for which the 
bill proposes to provide, rests in several resolves 
of the revolutionary Congress, which the com- 
mittee, who reported this bill, tell us, have crea-^ 
ted obligations, that h&re not yet been fully (M**- 



charged. In order to understand all the points 
involved in the discussion upon which I propose 
to enter, it becomes indispensably nece^-sary to re- 
cur to the resolves or promises which are said to 
have created the indebtedness, which the bill pro- 
poses 1o provide for. 

On the 15th (lay of May, 1778, Congress, by a 
ref.oive, that will be found in the journals of the 
continental Congress, provided that all the ofR- 
ctrs of the continental lin ', who should rcii\ain 
in service to the end of the w.ar, should receive 
^;even yeai".s' half pay, after the conclu'ion of the 
war. On the 3(1 d^<y of October, 1780, the ar- 
my was reformed, by which manj' officers then 
in active service were rendered supernumerary, 
and in order to provide for these, an<.iher resolve 
was then pissed, that these supernumeraries, 
should be; entitled to half pay for seven ye•^rs 
from the time of such reform. The officers who 
remaii.ed in service, it seems, were not yet satis- 
fied with the provision that Congress had niiide 
for them. They knew not h&w long the war 
wo\dd be protracted; they had Hb.mtloned their 
civil pursuits already f<)r a long period, and en- 
tertaining as they did, the natural sentiment, that 
it was a duty which they owed to themselves and 
to those who depended upon them, either tore- 
turn to their civil avocations, by which they could 
obtain a competency for tiiemselves and their fa- 
milies before the vigor of youth had passed away, 
or to procure from the national legislature some 
promise upon which they could rely, as an in- 
demnity for the services which they rendered, 
and the chances of gain which they consented to 
forego, they pressed Congress for further promises 
of remuneration; and, accordingl}', Congress, on 
the 21st of October, 1780, p .sscd another resolve, 
that the officers who should continue in service 
to thf end of the war should be entitled to half 
pay for life, and in the same resolve were includ- 
ed officers who were rendered supernumerary by 
certam reforms and new arrangements of the ar- 
my, or rather those, who were not in activt.» ser- 
vice, but who were in readiness to perform it, 
whenever their c< untry called upon them. The 
promise thus made to the officers by the resolve 
of the twenty-first October, 1780, 'seon became 
very unpopular and odious. It very naturally 
awakened a feai- andjeah)usy, that it contained 
the germ of an aristocracy, of sinecures and place- 
men, to be thus c-arly fastened upon the republic 
for life, and soon proved repugnant to that anti- 
monarchical spirit which gave birth to, and which 
had thus far sustained and prospered the great 
cause of the revolution. The officers themselves, 
very soon became aware, that the spirit of the 
people did not justify the very liberal provision, 
for life, wlilch Congress had thus, in the pleni- 
tude of its libc rality, made for them; that it was 
calculated, not only to bring down the popular 
odium of the country upon their heads, but to 
abate the general enthusiasm for the great cause 
of ihe revolution, which had hitherto, amid all re- 
verses and difficulties, animated the breasts of 
the people. The officers, therefore, who came 
within the resolve of the 2lst October, 1780, as 
well from a natural regard to the estimation in 
which they desired to be held by the people, as 



from their patriotic solicitude for the success of 
that great and momentous cause in whiih they had 
so gallantly enlisted, solicited some other mode of 
compensation that should better accord with po- 
pular feeling; and accordingly memorialized Con- 
gress to commute their half pay for life for fall 
p y for a number of years. Tlie following ex- 
tract from their memorial indicates the convic- 
tions and the spirit that dictated it. 

•' We regard ihe act of Congress, respecting 
half pay, as an honorable and ju.st recompense for 
several years h.ard st-rvice, in which the health 
and fortunes of the officers have been worn 
down and exhausted. W.' see, with chagrin, the 
odious point of view in which the citizens of too 
manv of the States endeavor to place the men en- 
t tied to it. We hope, for the honor of human na- 
ture, that there are none so hardened in the sin of 
ingratitude as to deny the justice of the reward. 
We have reason to believe, that the objection ge- 
nerally is against tlie mode only. To prevent, 
therefore, any altercations and distinctions, which 
may tend to ensure that harmony, which we ar- 
dently desire may reign throughout the commu- 
nity, we are williufC to commute the half pay 
pledged for fu'I pay for a certain number of years, 
or for a sum, in gross, as shall be agreed to by the 
committee sent wi'.h tUis a K'ress." 

Itistlien, sir, impossible to misunderstand the 
purport of this memorial, or the motives and 
causes thit dictated it. In accordance with its 
prayers, Congress, on the 22d of March, 1783, 
p issed another resolve, providing "That all offi- 
cers who were entitled to half pay by the resolu- 
tion of the 2lst October, 1780, should be entitled 
in lieu thereof, to five years' full pay, leaving it 
however to the option of the lines of the respec- 
tive States, and not to the officers individually of 
those lines to accept or refuse this commutation." 
It is for cases coming v itliin these resolves, and 
more particulaily the two last, that the bill upon 
your table is designed to provide. The obliga- 
tion created by the resolution ivf the 22d of Marcli, 
1783, commonly distinguished as the " cummuta' 
tion resolves," is certainly imperative, one which 
no faithful guardian of the national faith and honor 
would be unwilling to fulfil; but if the national 
faith which was pledged by it has been redeemed, 
if from the best lights and evidences before 
us, we are justified in the conclusion, that 
all the objects of this resolve must have 
obtained the provision secured to them by 
it, it would not only be inexpedient, but rash 
and extravagant in the extreme to pass a bill 
founded on the assumption, that vast numbers did 
n!)t receive their commutation certificates, and 
upon this concession, providing not only fjr sur- 
viving officers, but also for the numerous heirs and 
representatives of the dead. 

I shall now tmdei-take to sliow, 

1st. That all the officers of thecontinentalline, 
with very kyr exceptions, accepted of the com- 
mut itlon proposed by the resolution of March, 
1783. 

2d. That as to those who did not receive their 
commutation, the acts af Congress of 1828 and 
1832 have already made ample provision for 
them. 



3d. Thst if the bill upon your table should be- 
come a law, some officers, and particulnrly a por- 
tion bfloit.c^i.'ip;' to iha Virgiu'a hue, will be twice, 
n;iy t'irice paid I'ortheif revo'uiionary services. 

It will therefore be perceived, sir, th it I differ 
toto coelo, from the very intellijjent committee that 
reported the bill under consitleratioi. It is my 
purpose, sir, to express that dissent in that spirit 
of deference whicli is due to the very able and 
intelligent gentlemen who compose that commit 
tee, and of respect for their labours, which we are 
now called upon to review. 

1st. I contend that it is very improbable that at 
this late day, there remain any instances ol'officers 
who neglected or refused to accept of the commu- 
tation provided by the resolve of March, 1783. 
When I say this, sir, I speak, sir, from book, 
and according- ^' to the law and ike teslimoni/." 

hi 1826, the attention of Congress was call id ta 
•his subject, wlien some testimony was elicited 
from two of the Departments of the Executive 
branch of the Government, to which we should, 
at least at this late day, pay some respect. A res- 
olution was th, n pa-ssed by this House, calling' up- 
on the President of the United States to commu- 
nicate to this Houss all the information that might 
be in possession of the Government, relating to 
the resolves of the revolutionary Congress of the 
21st of October, 1780, allowing to the officers of 
the revolutionary army, who slionld remain in ser- 
vice to. the end ofthe war, half pay for life, and the 
re.so!ve of the 21st March, 1783, oflermg to the 
said officers five years' lull pa3\ in lieu of such 
half pay for life, should they accept the same; and 
also tli-j manner in which said resolves were car- 
ried into eflft'ct. The President called upon (he 
Secret. uy of State and the Secretaiy of the Trea- 
sury for such in'brmation or evidiuce in relation 
to the subject of this resolution as were within 
their respective departments. The Register of 
the Trea?ury, whose attention was called to Ih's 
resolution by the Secretar) ofthe Treasury, tlien 
repoi ted, " th;it from an examination of the re- 
cords containing the names ofthe officers who ac- 
cepted commutation certificates, as evidence of 
five years' full pay, emb]"aced in the resolves of 
Cong.-css above mentioned, it appears, that with 
few exec ptions-, the whole of the retiring olTicers 
under the resolve of 1780, and those who served 
to the end of the war, under the resolve of 1783, 
did receive their, commutation certificates." Mi-. 
Hagner, the Auditor, in whoc Department most 
ofthe records and evidences upon this subject, 
that are left, seem to be deposit, d, also reported 
on that occasion, that there were no records in his 
office, by which it can be ascertained, that any of 
the officers ofthe revolutionarv war, who, by the 
resolve ofthe 21st October, 1780, were entitled to 
half pay for life, and subsequently, by the resolve 
ofthe 21st March, 1783, did not accept the com- 
mutation offered. "Indeed," said he, ^'itis be 
Ktve'l, that there were no instances of this kind, but 
that all the officers of that army, who served to the 
end of the war, and who were settled with, receivd 
the Jive ye irs' full pay, instead nf the half pa-i 
granted by (he resolve of the 2lst October, 1780" 
The liegistcr of the Treasury further tells us in 
the same report, that agents were appointed for 



the several lines, who were charged with the res 
ponsibility of delivering certificates of commu' 
tation to the several officers. 

These official reports, sir, emanating as they 
do from sources which we cannot hut respect — 
yes, sir, is.suing froin the very depositaries ofthe 
records of the rL volution — speak a d.tt'eicnt lan- 
guage from that which is contained in the report 
of the committee that has reported the bill upon 
your table. The committee, in support of the 
idea that it is necessary to legislate upo.i the as- 
sumption that Uiany officers did not accept of 
their commutation, tell us "that the officer, were 
dispersed at the end ofthe war, that many of them 
were at a great distance from the accotiiitiig offi- 
ces, and many of them were ignorant of the coiri 
mution accepted by their brother officers." The 
best evidence wliich the nature ofthe cu'-e is sus- 
ceptible of, that which proceeds from lio keepers 
of the public records, tells us that agents were 
appointed for the several lines, who were charged 
with the duty and lesponsibility of delivering 
these cert ficates to the officers, and that it is be- 
lieved that tliere are no instances where the offi- 
cers did not accept of the commutation offered. 
I fancy, sir, that the committee must have ovei'- 
looked the evidence contained in the response to 
the resolution of Congress of 1826, or they would 
not have hazarded the assertion, that there are 
many instances In which the officers did not ac- 
cept theii- commutation, and that, therefore, it is 
just :.nd expedient to pass the general bill upon 
your table, which transfers from Congress to the 
Treasury Depariment the power of adjudicating 
upon these cases, and, in order to facilitate the 
opert-tions of appl cants there, err bodies a set of 
rules and presumptions, that shall dispense with 
any thing like strict and reasonable lest mony. 

I certainly, sir, mean no disrespect to the com- 
mittee, in questioning the soundness of theit* as- 
sertion or conj cture, when they tell us that many 
ofthe officers vn:re. ignorant of flie commutation 
which their brother officers had accepted for 
them. But it strikes me, sir, that this is indeed 
taxing those good and g-allmt men with m^rc ig- 
ncu'ance than I had considered them justly charge- 
able with. They, at a'i events, knew that they 
were entitled to half-p:iy for life, under the re- 
solve of the 21st October, 1780. The war had 
ended, and all would natuially be on the inquiry 
foi the source whence they were to derive the pro- 
mised remuneration fur their long and faithful ser- 
vices. l"hey would not, no, sir, it was not in the 
nature of things, that they c';i</rf remain inert or 
indifferent as to their p.ay, after the liberal pro- 
m ses contained in the resolve of 1780; and while 
inquiring how, when, and where, they could ob- 
tain the lialf-pay, which all knew had been pro- 
mised to them, the con hision is irresi-tible, that 
they must at least then have been informed ofthe 
nevr pension substituted for them by tlie ci.mmu- 
taticn resolve of March, 1783. To believe other- 
wise, wouldbe forgetting some of the most obvious 
principles of human nature, and motives of 
human conduct; it would be forgetting that the 
dl fated subjects of want and necessty arc ever 
on the aleit for the means of alleviating their dis 
trcssing influences. They had, sir, the spur o" 



necessity to stimulate them fo all reasonable in- 
quiiy 'iito their rights and intciests. Yes, the 
hard ha«d of poverty pressed heavily ufion tlum. 
They were called upon to enter npnii some new 
and civil pursuits in lile tliat could s cure bread 
to tfieir families, and comfort to themselves in their 
old age. The incipient steps of t!ie new cnreei- 
upon which they were about to entei-, culled loud- 
ly for ail tlieir very scant;' resouiccs, wlutlurm 
possession or in expectancy — most of tlum ha 1 no 
resource, or means, for this second beginning of 
life, to which they were no^v all doomed, but tlie 
remuneration whicli tlieir country had promised 
them, and to suppose them, luu ei' ciicumstances 
so necessitous, ignorant of all the provisions which 
their country had made lor them, would be a liliel 
upon that intelligence, which was as much their 
boast as their distinguished patriotism. Can we, 
sir, in view of all these considerations imagine, tluit 
there are any instances wlure the officers lU'glec- 
ted or omitted to receive their commutation cer- 
tificates under the resolution of 1783, or that, at I 
all events there are so many instances of omission I 
as to justify us in manufiacturin.i^ this general [ 
mould in which all these claims can now be run' If I 
tlicre are, as Ihu" Kegii.tcr of the Tre.isury ttlls us, 
but teryy^ It;, if fln_y exceptions, is it not much better 
and safer to apply the strict and searchmi;- scrutiny | 
of the Committees of CoHgress, and of the two 
Houses of Congress, to dicsc ''very few" ca^-es, 
than to pass the general bill upon yourtable, which 
in its dispensation with reason;ible testimony, and 
in the intlulgence of presumptions favorable to ap- 
plicants, is (with all possible deference to the 
committee do I say it,) liberal over-much. Is it 
not much wiser, sir, to retain to ourselves tlie 
trouble and i;. convenience of ctitt ng each gar- 
ment according tT tlie figure and dimensions of the 
particidar individuals that may pr; sent themselves, 
than to adopt this general piiifern, which contains 
such wonderful qualities of contraction and ex- 
pansion, as to be capable of fitting rather too many 
customers to consist with the salety of your Trea- 
sury' 

Again, sir: If theie be any instances in which 
the ofli ers of die revolution did not accept their 
c. mmutation cert.ficutes, then sir, I contend that 
die xct oi IS3S, for the relief ol ccitiin surviving 
OiTicers and soldiers " of the army of the revolu 
tion," and the act of Congress supplemtnta' 
thereto passed 'n 1832, have considering the great 
lapse of time, the uncertainty in which the^e 
claims are involved, and the various acts of limi- 
tation that have been been passed to bar them, 
made ample provision for them. 

The first section of that act provides that 
"each of the surviving officers of the army of 
the revolution in the continental line, who was ' 
entitled t) half pay by the resolve of Octobe 21, 
1780, be authorized to receive the amount of liis j 
full pay in said line, acjording to his rank in the I 
line, 10 begin on the third day of March 1826, ' 
and 10 continue during his natural life." The 
very first section of this act shows, th;it it was for 
claims accruing under this very resolve of Octo- 
ber 1780, that the act of 1828 was designed to 1 
provide. The history of the act is si ill too! 
fresh in the recollection of gentlemen to justify ! 



anj' prolixity of detail as to the causes that spoke 
it into bciiig. Suffice it to say sir, thit those 
venerabl ■ and gallant men, who then petitioned 
you for justice, did not, to use the strong and dig- 
nfied l<iit;uage of their memorial, "approach 
the legislators of the nation, as aupplicjints for a 
favor ( r fir an unineiitcd gratuity. They did 
not ask i-el ef merely because they were poor 
and destitute; they preferred, what they sincere- 
ly believed to be a substantial claim upon the 
justice, rather than gratitude of the nation. They 
applied for the compensation formei-ly promised. 
The) as!<ed for thi- fulfilment of an express en- 
gagement cf the government made in a time of im- 
minent danger, the conditions of which, asthey al- 
leged, had never yet been performed on its 
part, aMiough the services, for which the promise 
was nale h.id been rendered nearly half a cen- 
tury ago." 

Now, sir, it was to such an appeal, that the act 
of 1828 was a response. It was not intended 
sir, as a gratuity. No, sir. The pvou 1 and high, 
spirited veterans whose iietitioii induced the pas- 
sage of that act would not vt"op to accept ch;irl- 
ty, even from that nation, which owed its exist- 
ence to their jouthful V, lor and patriotism. No, 
sir. They asked mere compensation for servi- 
ces, which were as benefici:d and glorious in 
their results, as ihoy were faithful and arduous in 
the performance. The ilebt whose payment 
they then -olicited in terms so irresistibly touch- 
ing, was founded upon the very resolves which 
form the basis of the bill upon your table. Should 
not then, sir, that act be regarded as a satifaclion 
of all claims founded upon those resolutions-, es- 
p cially since the good and great men who pro- 
cured the passage of that act, must icmain con- 
tent with its provisions, and will not and cannot 
receive the princely fortunes intended to be se- 
cured to the objects of tlie bill upon your table? 
Tlie discrimin.ition in favor of thr intended bene- 
ficiaries of this bill is odious and unjust in the 
extreme to those to whom you dispensed the 
comparatively trifling pittance extended by the 
act of 1828. 

[Here Mr. Vanderpoel gave way to a motion 
to adjourn; and on motion of Mr. Claj', of Ala- 
bama, the House adjourned; and in consequence 
of the intervention of piivatc business, the bill 
was not again taken up till the 5th March inst. 
when NTr. V. continued as follows;] 

When I last week sir, hi(d the honor of ad- 
dressing this House, 1 had attempted to show, 
from the best lights and testimony (Xtant, that all 
those officers, who came within the Congression- 
al resolves of the 21st October, 1780, and die 22d 
March, 1783, with very few exceptions, had re- 
ceived their commutation certificates, before the 
funding act of 1790, or before the various acts of 
limitation, which I shall hereafter mention had 
expired; and that as to those exceptions, the acts 
of Conj^ress of 1828 and of 1832, have already 
m (le ample provision for them; and if sir, it be 
true, as will be contended, that those acts do not 
embrace ail those provided for by this bill, 
and there shall continue a disposition here to fa- 
vor these claims, enshrouded as they are in the 
mists and uncertainties of more than half a cenlu 



ly, it is then safer, far safer, sir, to legislate in 
particular cases, tha i to hold out to impostors the 
conspiruoiis and tempting' lure, which the pas- 
sage of the bill upon your table would occasion. 
Yea, sir, if, as has been alleged, these individual 
applications are becoming burthensome, if they 
are engrossing too much of the precious time of 
this House and of the commlttt es of this House, 
even then sir, we had "better bear the ills we 
have, than fly to others" th^t we know too much 
of; for we have too much sad experience of the 
frauds and pecultt ons, that seem to be insepara- 
ble from every general pension, or if you please, 
compensalionsysXevn, not to feel an almost invin- 
cible repugnance to the extension of tiietn; un- 
der every such system, tiicre must be fixed rules 
of evidence whirh, and which only, the applicant 
is required to comply with, in order to secure 
success to liis application. The department which 
is called upon to adjudicate upon claims of the 
character cintempl ited by this bill, must necessa- 
rily issue a code of general rules and require- 
ments. It must necessarily say to the world, 
"prove this ortluxt, and yon shall be one of the 
beneficiaries of this statute;" and all experience 
teaches us, sir, tli.it no matter how rigid and ex- 
orbitant may be these exactions of tt slimonj'', 
there are few applicants, indeed, who have not 
the ability to bring their cases within the scope of 
these general rules. The_y apply to some sci'ibe 
or agent who professc; to be an adept at making 
out papers of this description. He knows the 
quantum of proof that is necessary to ensure suc- 
cess. To procure it "is his vocation, sir." In 
many cases, the evi'lence he secures is, to be 



gratitude to its earliest benefactors; and I would 
not, therefore, wage war against those just ana 
liberal provisions which a grateful country has 
made for the soldiers of the revolution— provision 
which serves to render calm and comfortable the 
close of a career, whose early effulgence wa.s 
bright enough to chase away the dark clouds of 
despotism that lowered over that country whose 
gratitude and bounty are now the support ami so- 
lace of their old age- It must be borne in mmd, 
sir, that the i)ill under consideration makes no 
provision for the soldier. No, sir; it is partial in 
its operations, and gives merely to those officers 
wlio neglected to prefer their chims when the 
evidences for and against them were fresh and ac- 
ces>ible, and gives to them, sir, not the moderate 
amounts which those received who applied when 
there w^is "a host of living witnesses" to detect 
them, if they were impostors— but princely for- 
tunes, sir. 

In answer to the position I have urged, that the 
act of 1828 ought to be regarded as a satisfaction 
of the claims intended to be covered by the bill 
under discussion, it will doubtless be sud that this 
act proposes only to include those men who did not 
receive their commutation certificates; and that the 
act of 1828 was designed to provide for the very 
men vrho received their commutation certificates, 
and that those who may receiva the benefits of this 
act will also be entitled to participate in the benefits 
of the act of IS-B. Yes, sir; that they will be 
entitled to receive from five to forty thousand dol- 
lars under this bill, and also the benefits of the 
act of 1828!! I grant, sir, that the Secreta- 
ry of the Treasury' has decided, that the evi- 



sure, fair and substantial, and answers the spirit dence of having received a commutation certi 
of the law; but there are not wanting instances, ficate under the resolve of 178.^ at once en- 
sir, in which the applicant or his agent draws up, tith s the applicant to the benefits of the act 
in the form of an affidavit, the dreams of some of 1828, hecMi^i that fad proves thixt he comes 
good and worthy octogenarian, who is just grop- within the resolves of October 1780, specified m 
ing through the dim twilight of second childhood, I the first section of the act of 1828; but this by no 
and acioss whose broken and clouded memory oc- 



casionally flit the names of Washington, and La- 
fayette, and Greene, and Burgoyne, and Corp.wal- 
lis; but whose revolutionniy reminiscences, be- 
yond this, are but as "the fleeting vision of an 
early dream." The vagaries of the good old man 
can always find abundant vouchers, in the .shape 
of certificates and affidavits to his credibility. 
Yes, sir; the village parson certifies to his perfect 
integrity — his next door neighbor seconds it — the 
neighboring j ustice follows suit — the county court, 
which is to lend its.se.al and final certificate, is, by 
this time, convinced that all is light, and freely 
renders the necessary auth.enlication; and on 
comes a most imposing volume of papers gotten 
up, secundera artem, and potent enough to satisfy 
the conscience of the Secretary here, 'diough he 
were the veriest sceptic that ever doubted orquih- 
bled!! This, sir, is no caricature. No, sir; it is 
cold reality, as too manj' instances have already 
demonstrated. Why then extend these gener.al 
systems, when they strve as the sui'e incentives to 
innumerable frauds' Do not suppose, from tliese 
remarks, that I :im opposed to the various pension 
laws in favor of the .soldiers of the revolution, 
which now adorn your statute book. No, sir; I 
regard them as but the just evidences of a nation's 



means proves, that Congress did not design this 
act of 1828 as a full satisfaction of all claims 
founded on these resolves, wiiether the claimants 
had received their commutation certificates or 
not. The first section of the act provides " /Aa^ 
cuck surviving officer, lohn was entitled to ha'f pay 
under the resolve of October, 1780," shall be enti- 
tled to full pay for life, to commence in March, 
1826. 11 does not provide " that each surviving 
oflicer, who has received his coinnmtntion ccrtifi.- 
cnte," &c. shall so receive his half pay for life. 
This act, be it remembereJ, was an answer to a 
petition, not for bounty, but for payment of a 
strict debt; a debt tooj as I shall undertake to 
show, vastly more clear and indisputable than 
tliosii that are embraced by the bill under conside- 
ration. If Congress h\d intended merely to pro- 
vide for those who had received their certificates 
of commutation, and who had sustained a loss 
from their depreciation, the language of the act 
of 1828 would have been more limited and 
guarded. 

I am well aw.are, sir, it will be contended, that 
the memorialists who procur5d t'le pass.age of the 
bill of 1828, based their claims for relief upon 
other grounds; that they proceeded chiefly on 
the principle, that though the} did accept their 



8. 



commutation under the resolves of 1783, yet that 
they were paid in certificates that were almost 
worthless, and that the wet of 1828 was merely 
passed to indemnify them for such loss by depre- 
ciation. 

That this, sir, was net the sole end and purpose 
of the act of 1828, is evident from the fact, that 
some officers who retained their certificates trll 
they were funded, did not suffer much, if any de- 
preciation. When the act of 1828 was piis.ed, 
it was found impossible to satisfy the just ciaims> 
of all by the adoption of dftVrent standards ot 
bounty. Some Iiad suffered, because they liad 
been p:»id in certificates that were almost as 
worthless as the rags out of which the paper up- 
on which they were written was manufactured; 
others, who had retained them till they were 
funded in 1790, did not sustain much loss. This 
number, to be sure, was very inconsiderable, as 
the officers were poor, and were obliged to sell 



of their commutatien under the resolves of 1783, 
were to be p.tid immediately "in money op secu- 
rities at 6 per cent, per annum." They did not 
even receive their certificates till 1784. Requisi- 
tions, imder the government of the confederation, 
were made upon the States, but they were too 
poor to comply, and Congress had no means of 
enforcing' a compliance. The cei'tificates were 
not funded till 1790, and the pinching' wants of a 
vast majority of the officers would not permit 
them 1o retain them for six long years. They 
sold them therefore, for a mere song. Their coun- 
try promised them bread, sir, but they received 
only a stone. Compare then, sir, their claims 
upon your justice, so clearly and indubitably made 
out, with the dark siale and dubious claims pro- 
pose d to be provided for by the bill now under 
consideration. The first sir, most unequivocally 
and satisfactorily established; the second, resting^ 
only for their support upon the fallible recollec- 



them before that time, in order to procure some j tion of aged and imbecile witnesses, and barred 



little means to enable them to enter upon some 
new pursuits in life, that might secure comfort to 
themselves and to their families. Perhaps a f>rw, 
(and very few indeed, as I have urged) did not 
receive tlieir commiitaticm certificates — yet no 
discrimination is made between those who retain- 
ed and those who sold their certificates — all, all 
are equally entiti ;d to the benefits of the act of 
1828, and that act should therefore, sir, be re- 
garded as a second compromise or commulatiori act, 
whose operations are as just and equ'Al as was 
practicable, consideiing the insuperable difficul- 
ty of adopting any uniform rule at this late day, 
for settling tlie accounts of the revolution, tliat 
will not be somewhat unequal in its operations. 
Let me ask, sir, what did those realize who ac 



too by repeated acts of limitation. 

It may not be amiss here, sir, to inquire what 
are these acts of limitation to which I have so fre- 
quently alluded. In November, 1785, and in July, , 
1787, limitation resolves were passed, which in- 
cluded all revolutionai y claims founded upon the 
resohes of 1780 and 1783, and required that they 
should be presented within a short peried. On 
tlie 27th day of March, 1792, from a laudable 
spirit of indulgence and liberalily to the claimants, 
an act was passed suspcndin.u: these resolves for 
two yeais; on the 12th day of February, 1793, 
was passed the last act of limitation, extending the 
time for presenting these claims for the term of 
two years more. I put it, then, to gentlemen, 
shotdd not these various acts of limitation receive 



tually received their comnnitation certificates, some respect at our hands, especially when we 



and sold them? Those, I mean, who applied for 
them before this eleventh hour, and befoic the 
witnesses tiiat could disprove their right to them, 
if impostors, had desccmled to the tomb? Why, 
sir, so comparatively worthless were they before 
the funding act of 1790, that a capt.»in, who 
for his five years full pay, was entitled to two 
thousand four hundred dollars, actually received 
only $480. Tliis vast difference, produced as it 
was, not by the fmilt of the officers, but by the 



consider the antiquity of these claims, and their 
very doubtful character? As between individuals, 
statutes of limitation are no longer considered 
odiovi'; — no, sir, the interposition of the statute is 
no longer considered the rooue's plea. These 
acts are now regarded as salutary shields to sup- 
ply that loss oF evidence, which time ever works. 
The, wisdom of modern courts has rescued them 
from the odium with which prejudice and miscon- 
ception had once invested them. Only six years 



embarrassmehtof the Governmer.t, presents now I are i;ec; ssary to raise the presumption of pay- 



as fair and imposing a claim upon our justice, as 
do the claims (or which this bill is designed to 
provide; claims which have slumbered for more 
than half a centuiy, have been barred by re- 
peated acts of limitation; claims, wliich perhaps 
never had any existence in the j)erformance of 
the adequate ttrm of service, and which now, 
when the tongues that coukl contradict them 
are palsied by death, and the records that could 
falsity them are eonyumed b}' t!ie ilames, are lak- 
ed from the tomb b}/ ihs too Itivis/i nnd llberil 



ment as between individuals. How much more 
necessary these limitation acts as a shield in favor 
of Government, vas.tly more exposed, as it neces- 
sarily must be, to imposition, than are individuals. 
It will perhaps be said, that Government is not 
sueabie, that indlvicUials cannot enforce their 
claims agaiiist it through the medium of the judi- 
cial tribunals of the country. That argument, sir, 
has no force on this occasion, when we recur to 
the fact that these repeated acts, by which tht^ li- 
mitation statutes were extcr.ded, were so many 
notices and invitations to thesrj officers to come 



spirit wliidi noin scents to prevail. 

The cl;iim of those wlio suffered from the d'- 1 forward and exhibit their claims. It was 
preciation of their certificates, loan equ.dly f^- 1 saying to them, "Now is the accepted time" — 
■vorable c(;nviclf ration with those whom )ou pro- 1 " Come now. and justice will be done to you." 
pose to mykc rich liy the blH upon yosu- table is And when we recur to the very important fact 
mucli slrengihei^ed, wlienuc consider, how total- that the last :sct of hml'atlon gj.ve them grace till 
]y the Governn^ent failed in the performance of \79j, em!)racing a period of five year.s after the 
is stipv.lations with them. Those who accepted funding act was passed, and after the credit of tiie 



couHtry was restored, a period within which every 
commutation certificate was worth the full amount 
which its face purported to represent , and within 
which, it is most natural to suppose, that all would 
have applied who were honestly entitled to them; 
a determination now, sir, at this late day, to re- 
pose oui selves upon these various acts of limita- 
tion, would not, in the least deg'ree, savour of 
hardship or injustice. But, sir, the justice and 
expediency, if not the absolute necessity, of in- 
terposing this defence against these stale claims, 
is indicated by other cogent considerations. The 
revolutionary records, that would enable us to de- 
tect frauds and impositions under the proposed 
bill, have been thrice exposed to fire; most, or at 
least many of the muster-rolls of the revolution, 
have been consumed by the^e repeated conflagra- 
tions. I have examined the records in the Trea- 
sury Department, and have ascertained that these 
casualties have rendered the proofs of settlement 
with, the ofllicers so imperfect, that they do not 
now furnish sufficient evidence to show us satis- 
factorily who were, or wiio were not, settled with 
as commutation officers, and who did, or did not, 
receive their certificates; and hence, to repel the 
presumption that the applicant did receive his cer- 
tificate at the time when he ought to have applied 
for it, it is not enough to say to us now, "Go to 
the records, sir, and there j ou will not find my 
name." If those records, could, sir, like the 
Phoenix, be made to rise from their .ish' s, to 
which the flames have reduced them, the answer 
to this strong presumption of settlement, flowing 
from the lapse of time, would be more satisficlory. 
It should he borne in mind, sir, that the bill up- 
on your table proposes to provide, not only for 
the surviving ofiiccrs who did not receive their 
commutation certificates, but also for the heirs and 
representatives of the dead. This provision, in 
favor of heirs, will expose you still more to im- 
position. Most of the applications under the 
proposed act would pioceed from the representa- 
tives of the dead. They, sir, can apply, without 
exposing themselves to the imputation of fraudu- 
lent motives. They have perhaps, heard their 
gallant ancestor tell of his gallant services in the 
revolution; they may have heard him say, that he 
thought his services ought to have secured him 
his commutation, though he knew, th^t technical- 
ly And stT\c{]y he was not entitled to it. He is 
gathered to his fathers. Those who come after 
him I'.ear of your acts of bounty and liberality. 
Thty h.ar of your gi\ ing fifteen thousand dol- 
lars to one, and twenty thousand to another; the 
temptation to apply to you becomes too strong to 
be resisted. If you pass this bill, they will come 
in hordes, sir, to your Treasury Department, with 
the mere scintilla of evidence which the bill pro- 
poses to recognise as sufficient; success will in- 
crease their efforts; opulence is at once showered 
upon them; when their ancestor, h^d he survived, 
could not, pcradventure, with his own oath, hvLVH 
brought his ca^^e within the resolve of March, 
1783, and woidd not h.'vve jeoparded his fair and 
hard-f-arned fame by venturing an application. 
Out of his oun mouth could we have condemned 
him. It is well, sir, that v.e should here be re- 
minded, t!i;'.t the mobt eloquent and efRc'ent ad- 



vocates of the bill of 1828, as to those who had 
been p}.id in worthless certificates conceded that 
although the losses they sustained by reason of the 
fault and embarrassmeut of the government, were 
fnorally and conscientiously debts against us; yet 
that it was dangerous, nay, wholly inadmissible, to 
recognise this principle of strict indebtedness af^ 
ter these repeated acts of limitation, and. after 
this great lapse of time, because, it would tend 
to open the accounts of the revolutian in favor of 
the heirs of the dead, as well as the living. Such 
a principle, was, in their estimation too dangerous 
to be sanctioned, and though those good and 
high-minded men, whose memorial induced the 
passage of the act of 1828, sohcited not the boun- 
ty but the mere justice of the government, yet 
Congress, from an apprehension of the conse- 
quences of the very pi-inciple which this bill con- 
tains, the principle of opening the accounts of the 
revolution in favor of the heirs of the dead, as well 
as the living, did not seem disposed to recognise 
thisprnciple of strict debt. 

Mr. Webster, who was one of the ablest and 
most ardent advocates of the bill of 1828, in a 
speech, inferior in force and ability to none of 
the many able efforts of that very distinguished 
gentleman, used the following language: 

"For myself, I ani free to say, that if it were 
a case between individual and individuals, I think 
the officers would be entitled to relief in a court of 
equity. The conscience of chancery would deal 
with this case as with other cases of hard bar- 
gains; of advantages obtained by means of in- 
equality of situation, of acknowledged debts 
(Compounded from necessity or compound- 
ed without satisfaction; but although such 
would be my \\tvf of this claim, as between man 
and man, I do not place my vote for this bill on 
that ground . / see the consequence of admitting 
the claim on the ground of strict right. I see at 
once, that on that ground the heirs of the dead 
j vjould claim, as well as the living. 1 know it is 
altogether impossible to open the accounts of the 
' revolution, and to tiiink of daing justice to every 
I body. Much of suffering there necessarily was, 
1 that can never be paid for. The honorable mem- 
j ber from New York (Mr. Van Buren) has stated 
\ what I think the true ground of the bill, /regard 
[it as an act of discreet and careful bounty, drawn 
forth by meritorious services and by personal nc- 
' cessities." 

j Now, it would seem., that the committee that 
reported the bill upon your table apprehend no 
j danger from a recognition of the principle of 
; strict debt, payable with half a century's interest; 
j payable too not only to survivors, but to the 
I Iteirs and representatives of the de.nd; a principle 
j which a few years ago was deemed to be so dan- 
; geroiis by the warmest friends and most enlight- 
I ened and eloquent advocates of the interests of 
I the officers of the revolution. We should also 
I recollect, sir, that the provision in this bill in fa- 
i vor of the heirs of deceased officers, is novel as a 
j generyl principle in our legislation. None of 
I your general laws designed ta reward or compen- 
sate revolutionary services, contain such a provi- 
sion. They seem to have all proceeded mainly, 
! if not solely, from a solicitude to strew with com- 



10 



fort and abundance the last days of those who 
yet linger amonf? us. The bill upon your table, 
sir, would seem to be grounded in a much more 
enlarged benevolence; for it embodies the novel' 
general principle of dispensing its blessings to 
the fortunate descendants of those who did not 
apply for this boon in their life time, because they 
in all probability well knew that tliey were not 
entitled to it. 

But we will doubtless be told, sir, that Con- 
gress has, in various instances, recognised the 
principle of this bill; that within the last two or 
three years it has passed several private bills 
granting this commutation, with 50 j'ears inte- 
rest, to particular individuals. But, sir, it be- 
comes material to inquire, when and how this 
practice originated. Sir, it originated in the ina- 
bility of a particu'ar class of officers for lack of 
that amount of evidence whicli was required by 
the Secretary of the Treasury to bring their cases 
within the provisions of tlie act of 1828. In 1829 
I find none of these private acts providing for in- 
dividual cases. All seemed then to acquiesce in 
the act of 1828. In 1830 we are removed two 
years from the act of 1828, and in this year Con- 
gress passed several acts, bringing particular in- 
dividuals within the act of 1828. This was per- 
haps well enough; but furtlier than this Congress 
ought not to have gone. Towards tlie close of 
this session, however. Congress seemed to have 
become more liberal, and ppssefl three or four 
bills, granting to particular irtdividuals tiie five 
years commutation pay; but wilhout interest. 
It had not yet nerve enough to go the length now 
proposed; but in 18.'U, it began to give, with 50 
years' interest, making an interest amount com- 
pared to wliich, the mere five years' pay is but a 
ti'ifle. The principle of liberality seems to have 
acquired strength as it progressed. Yes, sir, like 
fabled fame, ^* acquirit vires eundo." Yes, Con- 
gress, in 1832, it seems, did nothesi'ate to pass a 
number of private laws giving to a number of offi- 
cers and their heirs, who had, at best, «s I have 
attempted to show, but doubtful claims, more 
than ten times as much as was ever realized by 
those distinguished and gallant men who applied 
for their due before their claims became stale, 
and who, in 1828, petitioned you in strains so 
touching. 

It will now be said, yir, that it is too late to ob- 
ject to the principle contained in the private acts 
to which I have alluded; that inasmuch as we have 
legislated in favor of individuals, our mott) must 
now be "onward," and that to save ourselves the 
trouble of legislating for individual cases, we nmst 
erect one general manufictory, in which all these 
claims may be fabricated. 

I deny the soundness; of this reasoning Sir, if 
a dangerous principle has been recognised in par- 
ticular cases, such cases cannot operate as binding 
and authoritative precedents in favor of t'ne pro- 
posed extension of this principle. It is much bet- 
ter th;it we recede, than go further. We have 
Hot yet *' slept in so far," as to be obliged to yield 
to the desperate sentiment, " thit to return is more 
difficult than to g"o o'er;" and if, sir, we c:<niiot re- 
cede without violating the national faith, if we 
cannot blot from our statute book the private acts 



I have referred to; then, sir, we are admonished 
by every consideration of consistency, of equal 
justice to all the objec's of our justice and bounty; 
and above all, of aversion to a system of ruinous 
prodigality, at least, to sfcind where we are. Your 
treasury, sir, is not plethoric. It needs not for its 
health and comfort the merciless and exhausting 
process of depletion which the bill upon your ta- 
ble proposes. 

It is in order here, sir, to remind the House, 
that the bounty of Congress, by way of general 
provision, did not stop with the act of 1828. In 
1832 it passed an act, supplemental to th-actof 
1828, which was literally a species of omnium 
i^afhenim, broad an I sweeping enough to pick up 
all the gleanings that had been left behind by the 
former acts of Congress. By it provision was made 
for all who had served over six months, either in 
the Continental or State lines. And here we had 
then, first, invalid pension laws — second, the act 
of 1818, by which all the inJigent officers and sol- 
diers of the revolution were provided for — third, 
the act of 1828, jirovidlng for all those who were 
embr:iced in the resolve of the 2lst of October, 
1780 — And fourt hi I/, the all-sweeping and liberal 
act of 1832. In tliese, it was supposed, were to be 
found ample monuments of a nation's gratitude to 
its veteran benefactors. Yes, it was thought that 
the proverbi;il ingratitude of republics was here 
most triumphantly refuted; that a pension and rev- 
olutionary compensation expenditure of over three 
millions per year was an ample redemption of the 
faith of the nation, even to those "who had res- 
cued it by their arms from impending ruin;" that 
the doors of your treasury were so widely thrown 
open to that little remnant of g.allant spirits, as not 
only to let in all who have merit to recommend 
them, but as also to hold out temptations and se- 
cure success to many impostcrs. The soldier, 
sir, is sutisfi^d with these liberal provisions; your 
officers who were paid in rags, are satisfied, and now 
sir, your munificence has provoked importunity 
from others, who, if this bill become a law, may 
empliatically be called the favored sons of the re- 
public. 

I have already stated, sir, in a former part of 
my remarks, that the resolves of 1783 were pass- 
ed iiptn the petition of the officers themselves. I 
am aware, it will be said,, sir, tliut all the lines did 
not petitioM; but there is no evidence that all did 
not accept their commutation. The weight of 
evidence certainly tends to the conclusion tiiatall 
must have accepted. The resolves of March, 
1783, were reported by General Hamilton, who 
had left the army and went into Congress for the 
very purpose, as was understood, of advocating 
the claims of th'^ officers. When these resolves 
p.assed under such Muspices, an ! were the result of 
such a petition, proceeding from such a source, 
can we for a moment t'seheve, that any of the of- 
ficers were Ignor.int of this new provision which 
w;ts made i'or them, and that by reason of such ig- 
noranc;-, they objected to apply for their certifi- 
cates' General Washington survived 15 years af- 
ter the passage of the resolves of 1783; within 
tliut time-, he was eight years President of the U- 
States, General Hamilton was Secretary of the . 
Treasury. Why not then apply for their commu- 



11 



tation, especially as the repeated extension of the 
acts of Imitation loudly called upon them to ap 
ply' The credit of the country was then resus- 
citated; tlic bltrssiuEfs of the consti ution were al- 
ready lelt; ih justice of the nation, res. assured, 
sir, was not then as'eep under the auspices of the 
ereat and good men wlio were then at the head of 
aflairs; and the just cla m of tlie g'allant officers of 
the revolution would not then have been lightly 
passed over. Their laurels were then fresh and 
green. At the head of the Government was their 
great an^-l good father, Washington, who hi'd so 
earnistly, so rt-ptaledly, and at last, so effectud- 
ly commended their claims and interests to the 
favoralde considenition of the continental Congress 
At the head of the (iscal ('ejiartment oftiie Govern- 
meni was their once distinguished bi other, and af- 
terwards eloquent advocite, Alex. Hamilton, a man 
who, barrin j his too extravagant noti ns about ex- 
ecutive tiovtjrnment, was ni.tonly an ornament to 
his country, but to the age in which he lived. In the 



This is indeed a very plenary power, which I do 
not find so expressly given by any of the former 
acts. But, sir, we have some foretaste, so!.Tie 
earnest, of the bitter fruits that will flow from the 
exercise of this power, if tiie bill should become 
a law. If it passes, some of the officers of the 
revolution would be twice, nay, thrice paid for 
their revolutionary scruces. Virginia, ever de- 
voted as she was t > the cause of the revolution, 
also promised the officcis of her State 1 ne half 
I^av for life. Now, sir, d" the bill upon your table 
should pass, a portion of the officers of the Vir- 
ginia State line would first receive the benefits of 
the act of 1828, granting full pay for life— .?eco«rf, 
the halfpay for lite which Virgini;> iiromised theni; 
and then the enormous amount proposed to be gi- 
ven by the bill upon your table! This bold asser- 
tion, as to consequences, may startle some gentle- 
men; but the facts I am about to detail will amply 
jubtifv it. 

It is to ihe first Virginia regiment, commanded 



legislative branches of the Government were to be by Colonel George Gibson, thU I would now call 
found some of those who ha-', been their compa- the paiticular attention of the House. This regi- 
nionsinarms, who had winteied and summered ment was included in the promise ot \ irgmia ot 
with them, who had been the sharers oftheir toils, half pay for hfe to the officers of her State hue, 
their s. rvices, and tluir glory !— brothers, whose but was, by an act of the l^egislature ot \irgima 
fellow-feeling for them would" have warmed their in 1777, transferred from the Si ate to the conti- 
nental service, in order to supply the place ot the 
ninth Virginia continental regir.ent, which had 
been captured at tlie battle of Germantown. Af- 
ter this transfer, it coutinufd in the continental 
service till the close of the war. Sone years af- 
ter the close of the war, cert <in officers of the 
Virginia line, who had not received their halfpay 
from Virginia, and whose c'aim Virginia resisted, 
on the ground that they were supernumerary, 
prosecuted the State (or the amount which they 
claimed to be due to them under this promise of 
half pay for life; and the highest Court of the 
State decided that the commonwealth was not 
bound to pay these supernumerary officers. The 
more recent discovery of cetain revolutionary 
documents, in reference to this very question of 
half p«y, induced the officers of the Virginia State 
line who survived, and the heirs of those who had 
deceased, to renew their claims against the State 
for half pav, under the act of May, 1779, which 
contained the promise. Virginia, with a magna- 
nimity that has evtr characterized that great and 
patriotic State, consentr.d to waive the advantage 
secured by the furmer judgment in her favor, and 
submitted to a second trial. The que.'ition was 
again tried, and the highest judicial tribunal mtjie 
State, in the year 1830, decided in favor of the 
officers, among whom were the heirs of this very 
Colonel Gibson whose regiment had been thus 
transferred. 

In 1832 Virginia petitioned Congress to assume 
and discharge the very heavy liability, which had 
thus been established aganst her in her own 
courts, in favor of her officers, on the ground 
that Congress had agreed to fund and assume all 
the State debts contracted for the revolution, as 
part of the debt of the United States. The ob- 
ligation to assume tlus liability of Virginia, was 
m'uch strengthened bv ihe liberal cession which 

...... „. „..j.^^^.,. .......... ^.,,. ...J Virginia had made, of her very extensive western 

** atcarding to the pnncipks of justice and equity. "\ Aomvan. Congress, accordingly, in July, l^oZ, 



hearts most readily into a compliimce wi'h their 
petitions. How auspicious was this season for the 
attainment of th.ese claims!! If justice had not 
before been rendered them, then, sii, was the 
time nmist propitious to apply for it; and yet, sir, 
1 have been able to find only one act providing 
for a few commutation claimants during the whole 
of General Washington's adnunistration, and that 
was passed in March, 1792, and on the same day 
that the act was pas^.ed to suspend, for two vears, 
the limitation resolves, passed in 1785 and 1787!! 
1 cannot learn, sir,that from that time these officers 
or their heirs ever applied to Congress for relief till 
after the passage of the act of 1828. To be sure, 
in 1816 Congress passed an act granting five 
years' full pay to the widow of General Hamilton; 
but this was not passed in consideration of strict 
debt, as General Hamilton was in Congress, and 
must have resigned his commission before the end 
of the war, and Was not, therefore, sti-ictly enti- 
tled to commutat'on. The provision v.; favor of 
Mrs. Hamilton was an act ijf bounty jnstly called 
for by the very meiltorious and invaluable services 
which her distinguished husband had rendered 
both in the field, and in the cabinet. I ask then, 
again, sir, is nothing to be inferred against the ob- 
jects of this bill, from their long and unaccounta- 
ble sill- nee? 

I propose now, sir, as briefly as possible, to 
examine the particu'ar provisions of the bill upon 
your table, and see what consequences may, and 
probably will result from it. It is deficient, sir, 
both in negative and positive properties. I do 
not find in it the usual provision that any claims to 
a pension under any former law, are to be forfeited 
or relinquished by those who partake of the bene 
fits of this act. The second .section of the bill 
provides that the claims of those who shall apply 
for a participation in the benefits of its provisions, 
shaH be adjudged at the Treasury Department 



12 



passed a law for liquidating and paying these 
claims ag*iiist Virerinia, under winch act an 
amount exceeding six hundred thousand dollars 
has been drawn from your Treasury. The se- 
cond sclion of this act provides, that "th re 
shall be paid to the officers, or their le.G:;d repre- 
sentatives, of the rfgiment comninnded by the 
late Cul George Gib<<>n, the amount of the- judg- 
ments which they have obtained against the 
State of Virginia, and wiiich are now unsatisfied. 
Now, sir, idihough these very officers of Gib- 
son's regiment were paid over one hundred 
thoushnd dollars with the fi-uits of that act, al- 
though tl>ey prosecuted Virginia as belonging to 
her State line, yet they would not onlv receive the 
enormous sums intended to be distributed by the 
pass:ige of the bill under considtration, but would 
also be entitled ti the benefits of the act of 1828; 
forthe Secret.ary of the Treasury and ci War 
have given such a construction to the art of 1828, 
as to bring within its provisions the officers of 
this first Virginia ngimcnt, commanded by 
George Gibson. N.ay more. Congress itself has 
recognised this regimeiit as a continental rpg-i- 
ment, by the passage of i)rivate acts m 1832, 
granting commutation with interest, to the offi- 
cers of this regiment and their representatives. 
I need onlv refer to the case of William Vauters, 
(vvl-.ich may be found in the n ports of the commit- 
tees of 1832,) whose heirs by a spf-cial .act of Con- 
gress of that year, receivedfive ye.ars comnnita- 
tion pay with interest. Vimters, as ajipears from 
the report of the committee, belonged to Gib- 
son's ri-giment; his heirs have thus participated in 
the large fruits of the judgment against Virginia, 
on the ground that they bclongea to the'statu 
line; and now, under the provisions of this bill, 
the Secretary of the Tre.isury would be compelled 
to extend to them j7s rich be'nefits; for his mouth 
wo dd now be hermetically scaled after the con- 
struction he has given to the act of 1828, and af- 
ter the practical construction which Congress has 
given it, by extending the continental h^lf pay, 
with interest, to some of th.e officers and tiieir 
heirs, of Gibson's regiment. The Virginia me- 
morial for indemnity against the claims of these 
supernumerary officers of her state line, which 
was presented to Congress in 1832, expressly 
states, "tliat the regiment of Gibson contin- 
ued in service to the end of the war; that it has 
been re cognised as a continental regiment, both 
by Congress and the other departments of tiie 
Government; that its stirviving officers .are now re- 
ceiving pay from the United States, under the 
provisions of the act of Congress of May 15, 1828; 
that payments had sdready then been made to the of- 
ficers and the representatives of officers of this re- 
giment to ihe amount of $40,000; that judgments 
had been rendered on sim lar claims ag.ainst the 
Commonwealth to the amount of about $27,C00; 
and that the claims of the officers of the regiment 
who had not prosecuted, amounted to $'31,200 
more, make an aggregate of more than one hun- 
dred thousand dollars." 

Now sir, afiei receiving from Virginia this enor- 
mous sum, and after receiving from the Unit -d 
btates their full pay f )r life, under the ac^ of 1828, 
what IS proposed to be given to them by the bill 



under discussion? An amount indeed, that should 
induce us to pause! The following statement 
exhibits the amount which the bill will .secure to 
each of^i'^er of the Continental line: 
To a Miijor General, five years' pay, $9,960 00 
Interest, 29,954 00 



Aggi-egate, §39,914 00 

To a Brigadier General, $30,056 25 

Toa Colonel of Infiniry, 18,033 75 

To a Lieutenant Colonel, 14,427 00 

Ti) a Major of Infantry, 12,022 50 

To a Captain ot Infantry, 9,618 00 

lo a Lieutenant of Inf^uitr}', 6,412 00 

To an Ensign of do. 4,809 00 

These are indeed pretty round and literal sums 
in these times of ''panic end distress." The offi- 
cers of the first and second Virginia regiments 
would receive double the above amounts. 

Though the second regiment, commanded by 
D.abney and IJrent, was not transferred totiie Conti- 
nentil line by an act of the Legislature, yet it 
marched with die first, served thioughout the war 
with the first regiment, and was alike Continent- 
id in its service with the first. It is the service, 
not the name, that gives the claim to half pay. 

Time then, sir, instead of weakening and dimin- 
ishing a claim, according to the notions of the 
committee that reported this bill, would secta to 
ijive it twenty fold efficacy and strength. In pro- 
portion as it becomes stale and rusty, it seems to 
magnify and strengthen. Whut, I again ..sk, did 
thoae who were paid in a depreciated curreicy re- 
ceive' I h.ave already told you, sir, that a Cap- 
tun, who disposed of his certificate beiore the 
funding act, received only $480. To all Captains 
who come in under this act, you propose to give 
$9,618; to those of the first and second Virginia 
regiments, including what they have already re- 
ceived from the avails of your act of 1832, more 
THAiv TWKNTT TBOusAJin Doi.LARs!! What rank 
injustice, sir. to those v ho w.>re paid in valueless 
certificates, and who did not live to see these hal- 
cyon days of unrestrained munificence!! Are not 
their spirits here, si', to rebuke us; to remind us 
of our partiality to the favored objects of tins bill; 
to tell us o' the ni.^''gardly pittance we extendi d to 
them in their life time, and of the uns])aring hand 
with which we arc now about to lavish our trea- 
sure upon those surviving officers, and the heirs of 
tliose officers, who may not lieretofore have re- 
ceived, because most probably, they were not en- 
titled to their coimtry's bounty. 

On what principle sir, is this most liberal allow- 
ance of more than fifty years' interest defensi- 
ble? The obligali( n to pay interest, it keems, 
was not felt when you first began t^) legislate in 
these particular cases. It cannot, sir, be allowed 
on any principle of justice or equity. Congress 
passed various acts of limitation, that were 
public invitations for these clairjants to come 
forth immediately and present their claims. It 
was saying to them "Come now, government is 
ready to pay wiiat it has promised you." This, 
sir, was in the nature of a tender to the creditor, 
which always arrests the accumulation of interest. 
Do the o'ljecls of this bill pretend tliat they have 
ever before presented ihtir cliims, and that go- 



13 



vernmcnt either neglected or refused to pay the 
demands contemplated by the bill? Thib cannot 
be, it is not pretended. Sir, on the one side, 
there has been jiii uiiilorm readiness to pay; re- 
peated notices to come and present tlicse claims 
On the other, a totd neglect to exhibit llicir 
claims, until they come to vis marred by tiie rust 
and weakened Ly the delay uf half a century. 
Every principle of law that would govern such a 
case between individual and individual miht.itei 
against the allowance of interest. An ofTer of a 
party to pay a demand arrests, the progress of in- 
terest; and when sir, the creditor is by the terms 
of the contract to present the demand witliin a 
given time, as was the case here, if we regard the 
various acts of limitation and the vary terms of 
the resolves ot 1783, liis own act or omission to 
present it shall not secure advantage to him and 
prejudice to his debtor. It i* a sound principle 
both of law and ethics, sir, that no man shall be 
permitted to take advantage of his own act or 
omission. Every principle of law and every dic- 
tate of sound reason forbid the allowance of inte- 
rest to tlie objects ofthis bill; and are we not, sir, 
most i)eremptorally called upon to apply those 
considerations, those analogies and rules that 
MO\tld govern Individuals in cases, where tiie 
interest is nearly foin--fo!d greater than the 
principle'' Let a becoming spirit of economy 
answer. 

A word more, sir, about the delalls of the 
bill and its extreme liberality to its most favored 
objects. Afttr determining that the Secretary 
shall decide the cases upon principles of *' equity 
anrf_/'us/ice," three subdivisions are superadded, 
which strike me as rather anomolou?; for they are 
rules not to require evidence, but to dixpense with 
evidence. They throw the burthen of proof, not 
upon the claimant, but upon the party upon 
w hich the claim Is made. By them, sir, imagina- 
tion and presumption are employed to perform 
the office of strict proof. The following sir, are 
those very liberal and indulgent rules which the 
bill prcposes to establlsli for the benefit of the 
claimant : 

Ist. "It being established, that an ofTiccr of 
the continental line was in service as such, on the 
21st of October 1780, and until the new arrange- 
ment of the army provided for by t!ie resolu- 
tion of that date was effected, he shall be pre- 
sumed, unless he was then retained In active ser- 
vice, to have been reduced by that arrangement, 
and therefore be entitled to half pay for life, or 
the commutation in lieu thereof. " 

2d "A continental officer proved to have re- 
mainei in service, aftei the arrangement of the 
army under said resolution of October, 1780, shall 
be presumed to huve served to the end of the 
war, or to have retired, entith d to hi. If pay for 
life, unless it appear that he died in the service, 
or resigned, or was dismissed, or voluntarily aban- 
doned an actual command In the service of the 
United States." 

'.. 3d "A continental officer, who died during 
the war, and within three months after he Is prov- 
ed to have been with his command, shall be pre- 
sumed to have died in the service, unless the con- 
trary appears." 



C.»n it, sir, require any long train of reasoning 
to shew the inexpediency of these provi.'-ions, 
ad the infinite frauds and impostlons to which 
they will give rise? You my, s r, "prove- this 
f icr, and a most cop.clusive inff rence in ) our favor 
shall residt from it;" though the evid<. nee is by no 
meais satisfactory, yi t it is all that we will require 
from you. Prov. , sir, that \ on served till after 
October, 1780, and you shall be deemt d to have 
ser\ed till the end of the war, unless tiie contra- 
ry is yliovvn. Slio'.vn by whom, sir? By a gov- 
ernment, most of whose revolutionary records 
have been consumed by the flames, .\lany offi- 
cers resigned between October, 1780, and Nov. 
1783, of whose resignation there is not now a 
vestige of evidence among the archives snd re- 
cords of your government. This system of per- 
.sump lion and Intindment in (avor of the claim- 
ants, is very similir to )Our maximum and mint- 
mum principles In your tariff laws; and I had, in- 
deed, sir, supposed that we had had a sufficient 
trial of the effect of fictions and preiumptions in 
your impost laws, to have given them their eter- 
nal quietus. 

I would now ask, s'r, why these relaxations and 
presumptions in flivor of offict'rs, and not as to 
the common soldiers? The latter, when he ap- 
plies for a pension, is tied down to strict and most 
conclusive proof of his revolutionary services; 
!:nd many a fiiithfid soldier is daily subjected to 
tile sad mortification i<nd disappointment of hav- 
ing h's application rejected for want of thtit strict 
pruof which the Department, that adjudges upon 
hi:, case, deems Indi.-pens^ble. The officer, sir, 
in serving his country, has mucli to susta n, and 
stimulate, and compensate him, besid-s the hope 
of pecuniary rewards. Glory, fame, and the hope 
of promotion: these, sir, are objects of sufficient 
moment and interest to excite him to deeds of va- 
lor. He submits to privation, and encounters 
danger, with the confident assurance that his deeds 
of chivalry will, through all times, be reflected 
back from the bright pages of his country's his 
tory. 

Not so, sir, as to the poor obscure soldier. 
The love of fame, the hope of immortality, cnn- 
not generally be present to sustain and animate 
him " in the gory field of victory." No marble 
monument Is ever reared to perpetuate his fame. 
He pours forth his blood, sir, and lives not after- 
wards in the memory of Iiis countr) men; not even 
a perishable oaken slab s reared by his coun ly 
over the clod of the valley beneath which his 
ashes repose. The historun Imniortalizes his com- 
mander with the p> n of eulogy, but the memory 
of the poor and gallant soldier, who was perhaps 
the instrument that executed the n;)ble d.ed of 
daring, receives not even the tribute of a passing 
notice!! Why, then, all this relaxation of proof 
in favor of the officer, and this extreme rigor in 
regard to tke soldier? 

And, sir, th s discrimination in favor of the offi- 
cer appears.much more lujjust, when we recollect, 
that from the very nature of things, it is much 
easier <or an officer to secure the evidence of his 
revolutionary services, than for the private soldier 
to secure his. Is the officer a captain, or a lieu- 
tenant? Among forty, or sixty, or eighty men. 



14 



whom he commanded, he can almost invariably, I 
with great facility, find one man of this number ] 
who yet survives, and can testily to his revolution- 
ary services. And, sir, all experience tea-shes us' 
that the soldier of the revolution never forgets his 
officers. What! forget those good and gallant 
men under whom he went forth against the red- 
coats! Never, never, sir. The recollectir>n of 
thfm is as indelible as is the name of the wife of 
his bosom, and the features of his children, whom 
he so fondly loves. Thtir names and their feats 
can never be forgotten by him, until he forgets 
the common dangers they sufllered, the common 
haidships they endured, and tlie common tri- 
umphs they achieved. 

How much more difficult, sir, tlie task of the 
common soldier, when he is called upon, to ad- 
duce the evidence of his revolutionary services. 
He was only one of fifiy, sixty, or eighty obscure 
men. He was humble in rank, and probably 
made no such lasting impression opon his comrades 
in arms, as to induce any of them now to remem- 
ber him, after ihe lapse of more than fifty years. 
And a vast majority of his fellow soldurs, where 
are they now? Lei the sure and dreadful rava- 
ges, which death always makes in half a centu- 
rj', answer! Why, 1 again ask, this indidgence to 
the offict r, and this severe rigor as to the soldier? 

It must be remembered, sir, that the bill upon 
your table proposes to transfer very important du- 
ties from the legislative to one of the executive 
departments of the government. l,et then those 
gentlemen who are so diligent and sharp- 
scenttd in their efforts to detect, and guard against 
executive encroachment — who perceive "spectres 
and hydras d i*e" in every new delegation of pow- 
er to the Executive — let them see to it, that this 
transfer of jurisdiction is not too readily made. 
I call upon them, to carry into practice here the 
principles that thi y have already so repeatedly 
and so vehemently promulgated on this floor. 
The Secretary of the Tieasury does not crave 
this new power. No, sir, he does notiravethc 
onerous and unpleasant duties you propose by 
this bill to impose upon him. He must know sir, 
that, with all the vigilance h^ could exercise, the 
bill upon your table, with iis veiy liberal provi- 
sions, would compel him to grant thousands to 
applicants, who have no fair and conscientious 
claim to the bounty of their country. Is it not 
then, all things being considered, far better, far 
safer, to look into each particular case as it comes 



before us, than to publish to the world the joud 
and general invitation tc Impostors, which is so 
emphaically involved iu the provisions of this 
bill? 

As a general principle, sir, my immediate con- 
stituten's liave perhaps, as little interest against 
the passage of bills of this description, as liave 
the constituents of any gentleman on this floor. 
Kxtend your pension, your revolutionary com- 
pensation system as much as you ple.\se, pass act 
uponact,pile Ossa upon Pelion, increase the annual 
expenses of your government millions and mil- 
lions, frustrate the design of y>)ur memorable 
compromise bill, and a very great proportion of 
my constituents would derive much consolation 
in the ihcrea ,ed impetus it would impart to their 
shuttles ar,d iheir spindles. But standing here, 
sir.asone of the judges, between tkose who are to 
be benefit* d by this bill,and the great body of the 
American People, 1 cannot approve of i's tmpre- 
cedenlly liber.il and novel provisions. If. howev- 
er, any gentleman shall succeed in convincing a 
majority of this House, that the fears of conse- 
quences I have expressed are unfounded, and 
that the bill ought to become a law, my regret, at 
wh;>tl miy deem a violition of correct principle 
in the passage of the b 11 will be very much di- 
minished by Lv recolletion of the kind spirit, 
which dictated this aberration from precedent and 
princi[)le. 

Mr. Speaker, I have done. I have felt myself 
called upon to say thus much against the passage 
of the bill upon your table. The duty I have 
discharged is unpleasant. I know it is an un- 
popular one. If left to the impulses of my own 
feelings and sympathies, my voice would not have 
been raised against this bill; for who that breathes 
the air of freedom, does not equally appreciate 
the gal ant services and revere the glorious me- 
mory of the veterans of the revolution! We can 
not, we should not, even as legislators, by too 
stern a stoicism, freeze up all the avenues to our 
hearts against the little remnant of that gal- 
lant band who yet dwell among us, and who, like 
the leaves of autumn, are daily dropping away. 
But, to the honor (-f our country be it .said, no 
American Belisarius is now, in the decline of life, 
doomed to go about begging for a penny. Am- 
ple provision has already been made for hini. 
Yes, he descends the down-hill of life with his 
country's gratitude to cheer, and his country's 
, bounty to comfort him. 



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